4 April 2016

The Philippines on Monday launched the first public immunization program
for dengue fever, seeking to administer to a million schoolchildren the
world's first licensed vaccine against a mosquito-borne disease that
the World Health Organization estimates infects 390 million people a year globally.

Hundreds of fourth-graders at a public school in metropolitan Manila's Marikina city were given the first of three shots of Dengvaxia. Some of the pupils received their vaccination shot under the glare of cameras during a festive ceremony at a gymnasium festooned with multicolored bunting and preceded by songs and dances performed by the children.